IH'i  g 


V\A  W\  \ 


I 


American  Board 

of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions 


Survey  of  the  Fields 

1916-1917 


By  James  L.  Barton 

Foreign  Secretary 


& 


Boston 

Congregational  House,  1917 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


t 


https://archive.org/details/surveyoffields1900bart_1 


SURVEY  OF  THE  FIELDS,  1916-1917 

By  JAMES  L.  BARTON,  Foreign  Secretary 


INTRODUCTION 

One  may  well  recoil  from  the  task  of 
attempting  to  give  even  a  fair  suggestion 
of  the  wide-sweeping  importance  of  the 
year’s  work  of  the  American  Board  in  a 
survey  so  limited  as  this  must  be.  We 
must  content  ourselves  with  revealing 
but  a  few  glimpses  of  the  great  Christian 
movements  that  are  sweeping  over  our 
far-flung  missions,  and  help  you  to  catch 
a  little  of  the  spirit  of  triumph  that  ani¬ 
mates  our  body  of  missionaries  who  at 
the  front  are  advancing  and  holding  the 
lines -under  their  Commander,  who  was 
never  defeated. 

No  part  of  the  work  of  the  Board  has 
been  free  from  taxing,  and  often  almost 
unbearable,  war  conditions.  Today,  only 
our  Missions  in  Spain  and  Mexico  are 
not  under  the  flag  of  a  nation  at  war. 
The  seas  have  been  sown  with  peril  and 
the  land  covered  with  unrest  and  disaster. 
Cable  dispatches  have  been  suppressed, 
mails  censored  and  made  uncertain,  and 
all  the  world  put  into  an  unprecedented 
condition.  And  yet  the  work  of  missions 
has  gone  forward  with  full  force,  adapt¬ 
ing  itself  to  new  conditions  with  sur¬ 
prising  effectiveness.  This  has  been  espe¬ 
cially  true  within  the  war  areas,  but  no 
less  true  in  other  regions. 

We  will  here  first  refer  to  the  work  of 
the  regions  more  remote  from  the  centers 
of  conflict,  concluding  with  the  more 
acute  regions  within  the  lines  of  battle. 

MEXICO 

A  year  of  political  unrest  and  uncer¬ 
tainty,  coupled  with  the  adoption  of  a 
new  Constitution  by  Carranza’s  Govern¬ 
ment  and  the  reopening  of  the  question 
of  a  new  redistricting,  in  part,  of  the  field 
occupied  by  us  and  the  Southern  Metho¬ 
dists,  have  together  conspired  to  prevent 
the  constructive  advance  we  would  have 
wished  to  make  in  Mexico.  The  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  in  Mexico  City, 


is  in  operation,  with  our  Dr.  Howland  as 
president,  while  the  cooperating  Mission 
Boards  are  arranging  the  constitution  by 
which  a  permanent  foundation  will  be 
laid  for  its  perpetuation.  We  are  expect¬ 
ing  Mexico  will  soon  settle  down  to  the 
development  and  pursuit  of  the  arts  of 
peace,  when,  under  the  new  constitution 
granting  absolute  religious  liberty,  the 
work  will  then  go  on  more  strongly  than 
ever.  Mexico  is  weary  of  strife  and  con¬ 
flict,  and  is  looking  with  increasing  favor 
and  spirit  of  fraternity  towTard  the  United 
States.  During  all  the  disturbances  of 
the  year,  the  Mexican  preachers  have 
held  faithfully  to  their  task,  and  because 
of  their  devotion  the  work  has  not  se¬ 
verely  suffered.  The  missionary  force 
is  now  back  and  at  work.  Our  mission 
property  has  not  suffered  damage,  nor 
have  the  missionaries  lost  prestige.  The  * 
door  is  opening  wide  and  we  are  entering 
in  strength. 

SPAIN 

While  Spain  has  been  outside  the  war 
zone,  it  has  not  been  wholly  free  from 
high  prices,  industrial  and  political  un¬ 
rest,  and  occasionally  destructive  riots. 
Missionaries  and  their  work  have  been 
little  disturbed,  however.  In  no  instance 
has  there  appeared  indication  of  animos¬ 
ity  against  the  missionaries,  their  school, 
chapels,  and  Spanish  co-workers;  but 
quite  the  contrary.  Even  in  the  midst 
of  it  all  special  evangelistic  services 
have  been  carried  on  by  Mr.  Bowers  and 
his  Spanish  colleagues,  while  the  Girls' 
School  at  Barcelona  has  been  over¬ 
crowded  with  eager  pupils. 

TRANSFER  OF  GILBERT  ISLANDS 
AND  NAURU 

After  a  visit  to  the  Islands  by  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  London  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety,  that  Board  has  consented  to  take 
over  all  the  work  and  responsibility  for 


3 


4 


SURVEY  OF  THE  FIELDS 


the  entire  Gilbert  Island  group,  includ¬ 
ing  the  Island  of  Nauru,  recently  annexed 
from  Germany.  This  places  the  entire 
work  of  these  Islands  under  the  exclusive 
care  of  one  Board,  which  unquestionably 
will  be  to  the  great  advantage  of  every 
department.  The  London  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety  assumed  all  care  and  responsibility 
from  the  first  of  July  of  this  year.  The 
Prudential  Committee  of  the  American 
Board  agreed  to  pay  to  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  for  the  next  five 
years,  what  the  work  in  the  Islands  has 
cost  the  Board,  upon  the  average,  annu¬ 
ally  for  the  last  five  years. 

The  American  Bible  Society  is  just 
now  putting  through  the  press  a  com¬ 
plete  Nauru  Bible,  translated  by  Mr. 
Delaporte  and  Tim  Detudamo.  A  gener¬ 
ous  hymn  book  in  the  same  language  is 
upon  the  press  of  Bigelow  &  Main.  These 
two  books  will  put  the  church  at  Nauru 
upon  a  strong  basis  for  the  future. 

THE  MARSHALL  ISLANDS 

Correspondence  between  the  Board  and 
Mr.  Maas  and  Miss  Hoppin,  upon  the 
Marshall  Islands,  has  been  resumed.  The 
Islands  were  visited  during  the  year  by 
a  body  of  Japanese  Christians,  and  it  is 
expected,  so  long  as  Japan  holds  the 
Islands,  that  the  Christians  of  Japan  and 
especially  the  Kumi-ai  churches  will  have 
increasing  interest  in  the  work  in  the 
group,  and  possibly  later  may  take  an 
active  part  in  the  missionary  operations. 

THE  PHILIPPINES 

Last  year  great  hopes  were  expressed 
for  our  special  and  exclusive  field  of 
operation  in  the  Philippines.  Reports  re¬ 
ceived  during  the  last  twelve  months  fully 
confirm  the  hopes  then  expressed,  but  in 
addition  we  have  the  testimony  of  two 
independent  witnesses,  Rev.  Dwight  God¬ 
dard  and  Rev.  Prank  S.  Brewer,  who 
visited  Mindanao  and  gave  the  field  and 
work  careful  and  discriminating  inspec¬ 
tion.  They  report,  as  do  our  missionaries, 
a  large  territory  and  population,  not  only 
waiting  for  the  preacher  and  religious 
teacher,  but  actually  pleading  for  him. 


They  report  at  least  400,000  Visayans, 
a  large  number  of  whom  are  practically 
Protestants,  occupying  the  north  shore  of 
the  island,  and  eagerly  waiting  to  be  or¬ 
ganized  into  congregations  and  churches. 
Many  recent  converts  from  some  of  the 
northern  islands  are  coming  to  our  island, 
Mindanao,  and  need  at  once  to  be  shep¬ 
herded  and  set  to  work. 

The  two  missionary  families  from  the 
Gilbert  Islands,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Woodward 
and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Channon,  have  been 
appointed  to  Mindanao,  and  the  Wood¬ 
wards  are  already  there. 

The  wild  tribes  and  the  Moros  look 
almost  exclusively  to  us,  while  we  halt 
for  the  want  of  an  adequate  force  of 
missionaries,  properly  supported.  Our 
loyalty  to  the  flag,  to  say  nothing  of 
our  allegiance  to  Jesus  Christ,  ought  to 
arouse  us  to  more  aggressive  action. 

Secretary  Bell  is  planning  to  visit  this 
work  during  the  coming  winter. 

JAPAN 

The  year  in  Japan  has  been  a  notable 
one  for  both  the  Doshisha  and  the  Girls’ 
College  at  Kobe.  This  has  been  the  third 
and  last  year  of  the  general  evangelistic 
campaign,  organized  in  1913.  For  per¬ 
sistence  of  purpose,  interdenominational 
unity,  area  covered,  number  of  persons 
engaged  as  speakers  and  workers  and  as 
members  of  committees,  this  campaign 
stands  unique  in  the  history  of  evangel¬ 
istic  movements  in  any  country.  The 
campaign  was  in  charge  of  a  representa¬ 
tive  committee  of  Japanese  ministers, 
laymen,  and  missionaries.  Practically 
the  whole  empire  has  been  covered.  Many 
parts  have  been  twice  visited  and  some 
even  more  frequently.  Also  communions 
in  sparsely  settled  regions,  even  the  Loo- 
choo  Islands  and  Formosa,  have  not  been 
overlooked;  and  the  Japanese  settlements 
in  Korea,  Manchuria,  and  China  have 
felt  the  effect  of  this  sweeping  campaign. 
The  aim  has  been  to  reach  and  strengthen 
every  Christian  community  in  the  empire, 
and  to  make  that  community  more  effec¬ 
tive  in  the  work  of  propagating  the  gos¬ 
pel.  It  is  reported  that  probably  90  per 
cent  of  the  Christian  force  in  Japan  have 


SURVEY  OF  THE  FIELDS 


5 


had  some  part  in  this  campaign.  It  has 
been  for  the  most  part  a  voluntary  serv¬ 
ice,  there  being  but  few  paid  laborers. 
The  total  cost  of  the  entire  campaign 
was  about  51,000  yen,  of  which  all  but 
19,000  were  raised  in  Japan.  It  is  too 
early  to  give  the  final  figures  of  the  re¬ 
sults,  but  the  reports  made  indicate  that 
3,232  meetings  were  held,  with  a  total 
attendance  of  nearly  605,000,  and  from 
among  this  number  21,136  signed  cards 
as  inquirers.  Special  campaigns  were 
carried  on  in  the  cities  of  Tokyo  and 
Kyoto,  at  which  some  6,000  inquirers 
were  recorded. 

In  addition  to  the  preaching  in  the 
special  meetings  held,  a  large  amount  of 
Christian  literature  was  circulated  and 
the  Japanese  papers  gave  liberal  space 
to  the  Christian  message;  thus  millions 
were  reached  who  were  not  able  to  at¬ 
tend  any  of  the  meetings.  The  Kumi-ai 
leaders  were  among  the  first  in  promoting 
and  pushing  and  standing  by  this  evan¬ 
gelistic  campaign  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end. 

The  Prudential  Committee  expect  to 
send  a  deputation  to  Japan  next  spring, 
at  the  earnest  request  of  the  Japan  Mis¬ 
sion.  The  mission  desires  counsel  upon 
several  important  questions  of  policy 
and  methods  of  work. 

CHINA 

It  is  no  part  of  our  task  in  this  survey 
to  discuss  the  political  upheavals  and 
revolutions  which  have  been  so  promi¬ 
nent  in  China  during  the  year.  That 
great  country,  never  conscious  of  a  na¬ 
tional  spirit  until  well  within  this  cen¬ 
tury,  is  attempting  to  find  herself.  The 
decision  has  been  made  to  be  self-govern¬ 
ing,  and  the  Chinese  are  now  searching 
for  the  best  way  to  achieve  that  end. 
We  are  witnessing  the  birth  throes  and 
the  growing  pains  of  a  great  republic 
that  will  be  like  no  other  republic  on  the 
face  of  all  the  earth. 

This  developing  spirit  in  China  has 
led  to  a  recognition  of  self-conscious 
strength,  not  only  in  the  life  of  the  na¬ 
tion,  but  in  the  life  of  the  Christian 
Church.  The  Chinese  Christians  are  as¬ 


suming  new  responsibilities  and  exhibit¬ 
ing  a  corresponding^  new  life.  The 
American  Board  missions  in  China,  and 
especially  in  North  China,  are  actively 
taking  the  lend  in  sharing  responsibility 
with  their  educated  and  trained  Chinese 
colleagues  for  the  direction  and  the  gov¬ 
ernment  of  the  work  of  the  mission. 
While  this  plan  is  now  in  its  infancy, 
it  is  deve^ping  the  resourcefulness 
of  the  Chinese,  and  is  leading  them  to 
recognize  the  fact  that  the  work  of  prop¬ 
agating  Christianity  among  their  peop'e 
is  a  Chinese,  not  primarily  an  American, 
task.  In  this  way  Christianity  in  China 
is  rapidly  losing  its  distinction  as  a  for¬ 
eign  religion,  and  is  becoming  indigenous 
to  the  soil,  the  thought,  and  the  life  of 
China. 

No  one  can  question  the  ability  of  the 
Chinese  or  their  devotion,  when  once  they 
have  committed  themselves,  to  the  dis- 
cipleship  of  Christ.  At  the  same  time, 
there  is  no  little  difficulty  in  passing 
responsibility  so  long  borne  by  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  over  to  native  forces,  and  in 
seeing  that  they  take  the  lead.  But  this 
movement  is  becoming  marked  in  all 
parts  of  the  country,  and  we  have  every 
reason  to  expect  important  results.  It  is 
stated  that  the  unusual  progress  in  South 
China,  during  the  last  few  years,  in  the 
advance  of  Christianity  is  due,  in  no 
small  measure,  to  the  putting  of  more 
responsibility  upon  Chinese  leaders. 

Every  department  of  missionary  activ¬ 
ity  has  been  highly  favored  throughout 
this  year.  The  political  upheavals  in 
Peking  and  the  disturbances  elsewhere 
have  not  seemed  to  affect  the  progress 
of  the  work.  The  one  appeal  that  comes 
to  the  Board  from  China  is  not  for  physi¬ 
cal  protection,  but  for  reenforcements 
and  for  support  adequate  to  the  ripening 
harvest.  Nothing  stands  in  the  way  of  a 
phenomenal  advance  in  all  parts  of  that 
mighty  country  except  our  failure  at 
home  to  respond  to  the  call  to  enter  in 
and  possess  the  land. 

During  a  week  covering  the  last  of 
January  and  the  first  of  February  of  this 
year,  a  plan  to  mobilize  the  forces  of  the 
entire  Christian  Church  of  China  was 


6 


SURVEY  OF  THE  FIELDS 


put  into  operation.  Evangelists  and  evan¬ 
gelistic  leaders  visited  different  Christian 
centers.  Much  stress  was  put  upon  inter¬ 
cession  and  enlisting  the  cooperation  of 
the  rank  and  hie  of  the  church  raember- 
ship.  Each  member,  however  humble, 
was  asked  to  pledge  himself  for  some 
special  service  and  task  during  that  one 
week.  Christian  literature  was  distrib¬ 
uted;  posters  were  displayed;  relatives 
and  neighbors  were  invited  to  Christian 
services  and  to  the  study  of  Christianity; 
preaching  bands  were  formed  and  self- 
support  stimulated.  Thousands  signed 
cards  as  inquirers  and  as  candidates  for 
Bible  study.  Plans  are  being  made  for 
carrying  this  work  forward  upon  a  per¬ 
manent  basis,  looking  to  a  more  pro¬ 
tracted  and  united  effort  for  the  present 
working  year. 

INDIA  AND  CEYLON 

The  great  and  venerable  missions  in 
India  and  Cey'on  are  facing  conditions 
growing  out  of  the  war  which  call  for 
serious  consideration  and  positive  action. 
The  awakening  self-consciousness  of  the 
native  populations,  the  inevitable  conclu¬ 
sions  from  recent  events,  will  demand 
corresponding  thought  upon  the  part  of 
Christian  missions.  Thousands  of  Indians 
are  in  Europe,  Arabia,  and  Turkey,  prov¬ 
ing  by  service  and  sacrifice  their  worth 
to  Great  Britain  in  defense  of  the  right 
against  the  wrong,  and  in  the  mainte¬ 
nance  of  British  prestige  upon  land  and 
sea. 

Already  they  are  beginning  to  question 
the  justice  of  certain  government  prac¬ 
tices,  like  the  use  of  national  funds  for 
the  support  of  Christian  schools,  and  are 
making  their  point  of  view  more  plainly 
felt  in  the  councils  of  state. 

One  of  the  hindrances  to  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  self-supporting  and  self-directing 
Christian  institutions  in  India  has  been 
the  reluctance  of  native  pastors  and  lead¬ 
ers  to  assume  responsibility.  The  tend¬ 
ency  has  been  to  lean  upon  the  missionary 
in  these  matters,  as  they  have  leaned 
upon  the  Englishman  for  direction  in 
national  affairs.  We  are  now  noting  an 
increasing  readiness  to  take  and  carry  a 


larger  measure  of  the  burden,  and  in  this 
we  see  a  sign  of  great  promise. 

This  tendency  is  especially  welcomed 
as  the  mass  movements  towards  Chris¬ 
tianity  multiply,  and  the  missions  in 
every  part  of  India  are  confronted  with 
the  problem  of  dealing  with  people  by  the 
thousand  who  have  broken,  or  are  eager 
to  break,  with  their  ancestral  religious 
conditions  and  to  offer  themselves  for 
Christian  instruction. 

The  three  missions  of  the  American 
Board  are  face  to  face  with  these  prob¬ 
lems  and  opx^ortunities,  and  are  well 
situated  to  deal  with  them  effectively, 
if  we  can  provide  the  recruits  and  the 
resources. 

AFEICA 

The  war  has  affected  almost  every  part 
of  the  great  continent  of  Africa.  Hap¬ 
pily  our  own  missions  have  not  suffered 
to  the  same  extent  as  the  German  mis¬ 
sions  or  as  the  Presbyterian  work  in  the 
Kameroon.  Our  three  fields  were  outside 
the  areas  of  actual  conflict,  although  all 
have  more  or  less  felt  the  uncertainty 
as  well  as  the  high  prices  caused  by  war 
conditions. 

In  West  Africa,  the  work  of  central¬ 
ization  and  of  construction  has  continued 
in  spite  of  the  war;  while  in  Bhodesia, 
a  new  station  upon  the  Portuguese  side 
of  the  line  has  been  opened  and  occupa¬ 
tion  begun.  In  Johannesburg,  plans  are 
maturing  for  an  enlarged  work  among 
the  tens  of  thousands  of  Zulu  men  who 
work  in  the  mines.  A  friend  has  gener¬ 
ously  provided  for  the  beginning  of  that 
work. 

Every  section  of  our  African  field 
shows  unmistakable  signs  of  growth. 
There  are  few,  if  any,  missions  of  the 
Board  that  are  calling  more  loudly  for 
reenforcement,  even  to  make  up  for 
losses  in  the  ranks,  and  also  for  funds 
to  permit  entering  upon  advanced  lines 
of  work  that  are  opening  in  many  direc¬ 
tions.  All  of  our  Africa  missions  are 
ready  for  steady  growth,  both  in  closer 
organization  and  in  occupation  of  new 
areas. 


SURVEY  OF  THE  FIELDS 


7 


RUSSIA 

Throughout  the  centuries  it  would  he 
impossible  to  find  a  religious  revolution 
more  sweeping  and  more  significant  than 
the  one  that  has  changed  the  Russian 
Church  from  the  control  of  the  state  to 
a  self-governing  body.  To  this  is  added 
the  proclamation  of  absolute  religious 
liberty  for  all  the  people  of  Russia,  es¬ 
tablished  by  the  third  article  of  Russia’s 
new  constitution.  Russia  hitherto  has 
been  fully  as  autocratic  in  matters  of 
religion  as  she  has  been  in  politics.  The 
Czar  was  the  supreme  head  of  the  Church, 
and  he  alone  had  power  to  appoint  the 
leaders  in  ecclesiastical  matters.  He  or 
his  chosen  representatives  presided  at  the 
great  functions  of  the  Church.  Since 
the  revolution  the  Church,  in  the  person 
of  its  chosen  representatives,  has  organ¬ 
ized  upon  a  democratic  basis,  and  has 
made  provision  for  election  by  the  Church 
of  the  highest  officials  formerly  appointed 
by  the  Czar. 

This  step  proclaims  religious  freedom 
for  180,000,000  of  the  people  of  Russia, 
and  gives  the  Church  an  opportunity  to 
clear  itself  from  political  intrigue  and 
to  reestablish  itself  upon  a  true  spiritual 
foundation.  The  beginning  has  been  most 
auspicious,  and  whPe  time  will  be  neces¬ 
sary  to  achieve  the  fullest  results,  we  can 
have  no  doubt  as  to  the  outcome. 

The  American  Board  missionaries, 
who  have  been  in  Russia  for  more  than 
a  year,  report  only  kindness  and  sympa¬ 
thetic  cooperation  from  the  Russian 
officials. 

AUSTRIA 

When  Austria  broke  diplomatic  rela¬ 
tions  with  the  United  States,  in  May, 
it  seemed  wise  to  our  Government  to 
insist  that  our  four  American  Board 
missionaries  should  come  away  with  the 
Government’s  representatives.  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Clark  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter  had 
remained  at  their  post  in  Prague  until 
that  time.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that 
they  had  been  unhampered  in  their  work 
by  the  Austrian  Government.  They  were 
evidently  completely  trusted  by  all  parties, 
and  that  trust  was  not  betrayed. 


Mr.  Porter  was  left  free  to  tour  the 
field  as  usual,  and  to  minister  to  the 
physical  and  spiritual  needs  of  the  people. 
The  call  for  Bibles  and  Testaments  upon 
the  part  of  soldiers  and  others  was  un¬ 
precedented.  Tens  of  thousands  of  cop:es 
have  been  printed  at  Prague  since  the 
outbreak  of  the  war,  and  yet  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  were  not  able  to  meet  the 
persistent  demand  which  came  from 
Protestants  and  Catholics  alike.  The 
Protestants  in  the  army  are  true  to  their 
faith,  and  reports  come  that  some  who 
are  prisoners  continue  the  proclamation 
of  the  gospel  among  their  fellow-prison¬ 
ers.  While  the  Church  in  Austria  is 
much  depleted  of  its  men,  there  is  every 
evidence  that  by  the  fortunes  of  war  the 
sustaining  and  comforting  message  of 
the  gospel  is  being  preached  more  widely 
than  ever  before  since  we  began  work 
in  Austria. 

THE  BALKANS 

Under  this  title  we  include  Albania, 
Macedonia,  and  Bulgaria.  This  is  still 
a  storm  area  of  Europe.  Albania  is  he’d 
partly  by  Austria,  partly  by  Italy,  and 
partly  by  France.  Few  communications 
have  come  out  of  Bulgaria,  but  enough 
have  come  to  convince  us  that  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  are  not  meeting  with  special 
hardships.  The  Bulgarians  recognize 
their  debt  to  the  missionaries  of  the 
American  Board,  and  trust  to  the  neu¬ 
trality  and  friendship  of  those  who  are 
among  them. 

In  the  midst  of  great  peril,  Miss 
Matthews  voluntarily  remained  at  Mon- 
astir  when  the  Allies  removed  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Clarke  to  Salonica.  The  city  and 
even  our  mission  premises  have  been 
bombarded  and  casualties  have  occurred 
in  our  own  compound,  but  up  to  last 
reports  Miss  Matthews  was  staying  by 
her  women  and  children. 

Extensive  missionary  activities  have 
been  going  on  at  Salonica  throughout 
the  year.  That  large  station  not  only  has 
carried  on  crowded  schools,  but  much 
time  has  been  given  to  the  large  number 
of  refugees  who  flocked  into  the  city,  and 
the  missionaries-  have  also  kept  closely 
in  touch  with  the  soldiers. 


8 


SURVEY  OF  THE  FIELDS 


That  part  of  Albania  which  is  under 
French  protection,  of  which  Kortcha  is 
the  capital,  through  the  Albanian  gov¬ 
ernor,  a  warm  friend  of  our  work,  has 
called  for  the  opening  of  our  school  build¬ 
ing  at  Kortcha.  The  Prudential  Com¬ 
mittee  has  authorized  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kennedy  to  go  there  to  reopen  the  station. 

MISSIONARIES  IN  TURKEY 

On  the  first  of  August  there  were 
forty-nine  adults  and  ten  children  living 
in  Turkey  and  connected  with  the  work 
of  the  American  Board.  Some  of  these 
are  British  subjects,  not  permitted  to 
come  out  under  present  conditions. 
Others  have  chosen  to  remain  when  given 
every  opportunity  to  come  at  the  time 
diplomatic  relations  were  broken.  These 
are  located  at  thirteen  centers  in  Con¬ 
stantinople,  Asia  Minor,  and  Northern 
Syria,  and  all  are  engaged  in  adminis¬ 
tering  relief  and  in  continuing  some 
forms  of  missionary  work.  At  the  pres¬ 
ent  time  little  direct  correspondence 
is  possible.  Latest  reports  speak  of  the 
increasing  friendliness  of  the  Turkish 
officials,  accompanied  by  the  assurance 
that  no  harm  will  come  to  those  who 
have  remained.  In  many  places  the 
Turks  expressed  great  sorrow  that  any 
missionaries  were  leaving.  Those  who 
have  come  out  are  unanimous  in  their 
belief  that  the  great  majority  of  the 
Turks  themselves  are  in  sympathy  with 
the  missionaries  and  their  work,  and 
desire  to  have  them  return.  Many  Turks 
have  openly  expressed  their  disapproval 
at'  the  way  non-Moslem  subjects  have 

been  treated  by  the  government. 

% 

WORK  OF  THE  MISSIONARIES 
IN  TURKEY 

For  the  last  year  the  chief  work  of  the 
missionaries  in  Turkey  has  been  the  dis¬ 
tribution  of  relief.  Suffering  among 
non-Moslems  has  been  widespread  and 
extreme.  At  every  mission  station  and 
in  near  villages  tens  of  thousands  of 
absolutely  destitute  refugees  are  congre¬ 
gated.  Since  the  war  began,  the  Treas¬ 
urer  of  the  American  Board  has  sent  for 
relief  purposes  nearly  $500,000,  while 


the  American  Committee  for  Armenian 
and  Syrian  Relief  has  sent  to  Turkey 
alone  over  $2,000,000.  It  is  now  for¬ 
warding  to  Constantinople  for  relief  pur¬ 
poses  among  non-Moslems  some  $200,000 
monthly.  Of  these  funds,  the  mission¬ 
aries  and  teachers  in  the  American  col¬ 
leges  have  been  the  chief  distributors. 
Soup  kitchens  and  various  forms  of  in¬ 
dustrial  relief  are  widely  employed. 

In  Constantinople,  Smyrna,  Harpoot, 
Adana,  and  elsewhere,  the  schools  have 
been  unusually  prosperous.  In  some  sta¬ 
tions  children  are  gathered  into  orphan¬ 
ages,  and  women  and  girls  are  given 
protection  and  instruction. 

In  a  few  of  the  schools,  the  attendance 
of  Moslems  has  been  unprecedentedly 
large  and  interest  correspondingly  great. 
It  would  not  be  wise  to  publish  now  much 
that  might  be  said  upon  this  point.  Suf¬ 
fice  it  to  report,  that  all  of  those  who 
have  come  out  of  Turkey  during  the  past 
year  are  convinced  that  barriers  between 
Moslems  and  Christians  are  permanently 
breaking  down,  and  that  in  the  future 
we  are  to  witness  a  friendliness  and  a 
degree  of  cooperation  with  Moslems  never 
yet  experienced.  When  we  recall  the 
place  Turkey  has  held  in  the  Moslem 
world  for  the  past  five  centuries,  the  sig¬ 
nificance  of  this  fact  can  hardly  be  over¬ 
estimated. 

Many  if  not  most  of  the  chapels  in  the 
outstations  are  either  occupied  for  mili¬ 
tary  purposes  or  are  destroyed.  Most  of 
the  churches  in  the  station  cities  are 
at  present  requisitioned  for  military  hos¬ 
pitals.  The  same  is  true  of  the  churches 
of  the  Gregorian,  Greek,  and  Syrian 
communities.  Only  recently  the  church 
at  Harpoot  was  returned  to  the  Protes¬ 
tant  body  for  purposes  of  public  worship. 

It  may  be  that  the  Turks  are  prepar¬ 
ing  the  way  more  thoroughly  than  they 
know  for  beginning  a  work  among  races 
and  peoples  hitherto  hardly  reached  by 
our  missionaries. 

MISSIONARY  HEROISM 

•» 

At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Prudential 
Committee,  there  were  present  several 
missionaries  who  had  just  landed  from 


SURVEY  OF  THE  FIELDS 


Turkey,  having  left  there  at  the  earnest 
request  of  the  United  States  Govern¬ 
ment,  after  diplomatic  relations  had  been 
severed.  One  of  the  group  within  a  few 
months  had  lost  his  only  child  and  later 
his  wife,  from  typhus.  Another  had  lost 
her  husband  and  she  herself  had  been  at 
death’s  door  from  the  same  dread  disease. 
Beside  her  sat  her  three  fatherless  chil¬ 
dren.  Another,  a  young  mother  with  her 
babe  less  than  two  years  old  in  her  arms, 
had  been  separated  from  her  husband  in 
Turkey,  when  he  was  forced  to  undergo 
protracted  and  excruciating  experiences 
until  he  died,  alone,  never  having  seen 
his  child.  These  had  all  witnessed  horrors 
which  the  public  would  not  believe  pos¬ 
sible  in  this  twentieth  century,  and  had 
endured  privations  and  faced  perils 
known  in  part  only  to  themselves.  In  the 
hour  spent  with  the  Prudential  Commit¬ 
tee,  these  heroines  and  heroes  of  the  Cross 
made  not  the  least  allusion  to  any  perils 
they  had  met  or  to  hardships  they  had 
endured.  With  a  calmness  and  devotion 
that  stirred  men’s  souls,  they  spoke  of  the 
work  as  they  left  it;  of  the  relief  carried 
on  for  the  thousands  of  helpless  refugees ; 
but  they  dwelt  especially  upon  the  future, 
and  the  work  to  be  done  for  the  people 
of  that  sorrowing  and  desolated  land. 
Repeatedly  they  used  the  phrase,  “As 
soon  as  we  can  get  back.”  In  private 
conversation  they  all  spoke  of  going  back 
and  of  “reconstruction”  and  “opportuni¬ 
ties.”  Not  a  pessimistic  word  was  uttered 
by  one  of  them,  but  all  dwelt  upon  the 
reorganization  for  the  future  and  upon 
the  mighty  hope  and  the  grounds  therefor 
with  which  they  looked  forward  to  a  new 
era  in  that  country. 

This  truly  represents  the  spirit  and 
purpose  of  the  missionaries  who  have 
recently  come  out  of  that  furnace  of 
agony,  many  of  whom  bear  in  their  bodies 
the  marks  of  terrible  experiences;  but 
who,  with  stupendous  Christian  courage 
and  an  unshaken  faith,  speak  only  of  the 
morning  yet  to  dawn  and  of  the  new  day 
in  which  they  hope  to  serve. 

There  is  a  long  roll  of  those  who  will 
never  return  to  tell  their  story  or  to 
reveal  their  faith.  Since  the  war  began, 


U 

seventeen  have  passed  from  scenes  of 
destruction  and  death  in  Turkey  to  their 
eternal  rest.  Of  these,  ten  died  of  typhus. 
When  we  remember  that  all  could  have 
come  home  at  the  outset  had  they  so  de¬ 
sired,  we  must  recognize  that  these  were 
voluntary  offerings  upon  the  altar  of  our 
God  for  the  redemption  of  Turkey. 

When  Miss  Graffam,  alone  at  Sivas, 
heard  that  relief  funds  had  stopped  com¬ 
ing,  she  wrote:  “These,  my  people,  will 
all  perish  unless  help  comes  to  them 
from  without.  No  matter  what  happens, 
I  will  remain  with  them  and  we  will  die 
together.” 

Mrs.  Atkinson,  at  Harpoot,  continued 
to  supervise  the  medical  work  after 
Dr.  Atkinson  died  of  the  typhus.  A  large 
number  of  Armenian  men  and  women 
were  taken  into  the  hospital  as  employees, 
to  save  them  from  deportation  and  death. 
The  Moslem  governor,  a  man  with  power 
of  life  and  death  over  the  people  of  the 
country,  suddenly  seized  some  twenty  of 
these  and  put  them  into  prison,  prepara¬ 
tory  to  their  deportation  and  death.  Mrs. 
Atkinson,  a  frail  little  woman,  went  in 
person  to  the  governor  and  pleaded  for 
“her  people.”  He  sternly,  peremptorily, 
and  impatiently  refused.  Again  she 
urged,  and  again  he  gruffly  denied  her 
request.  Finally  he  said  to  her:  “You 
see  what  is  happening  constantly  to  peo¬ 
ple  all  about  you.  I  should  think  you 
would  be  afraid  to  importune  and  annoy 
me  in  this  way.  lest  something  terrible 
should  happen  to  you.”  The  missionary 
drew  herself  up  to  her  full  height  and 
replied,  “Your  Excellency,  I  fear  nothing 
but  sin.”  Her  reply  seemed  to  stagger 
the  man  of  blood  and  iron.  He  paced  the 
floor  in  silence,  apparently  gTeatly  moved. 
Then  he  turned  to  Mrs.  Atkinson  and 
said,  “You  shall  have  your  people.”  They 
were  returned  to  the  hospital. 

Mrs.  Leslie,  with  her  little  fatherless 
babe,  returned  this  spring  to  Oorfa, 
where  her  husband  had  suffered  trials  and 
experiences  too  great  for  human  endur¬ 
ance;  and  there,  where  his  broken  body 
lay  buried,  for  months  she  went  in  and 
out  among  those  stricken  people— -an 
angel  of  love  and  light. 


10 


SURVEY  OF  THE  FIELDS 


Miss  Vaughan,  at  Hadjin,  who  has  not 
seen  the  face  of  a  fellow-missionary  for 
nearly  two  years,  sends  in  almost  every 
message  the  declaration  that  she  is  just 
where  the  Lord  wants  her  to  be,  and  is 
doing  the  work  she  knows  He  wants  her 
to  do,  and  urges  that  no  effort  be  made  to 
bring  her  away. 

The  story  of  individual  cases  of  heroic 
devotion  might  be  indefinitely  prolonged. 
Every  missionary  remaining  in  Turkey 
since  the  outbreak  of  the  war  has  faced 
severe  privations  and  in  all  cases  direct 
personal  peril  from  deadly  epidemics. 

Moslems  have  noted  these  cases  of  s elf- 
forgetful  devotion  in  the  name  of  Christ, 
and  have  learned  therefrom  more  of  the 
true  spirit  of  Christianity  than  years  of 
oral  preaching  could  have  taught  them. 
The  foundation  for  a  mighty  work  for  the 
Moslems  has  been  laid  by  the  heroic  de¬ 
votion  of  the  men  and  women  who  have 
so  devotedly  represented  the  Christianity 
of  the  West  among  the  suffering  and 
dying  peoples  of  Turkey. 

EFFECT  OF  WAR  OH  MISSIONS 

When  this  war  is  over,  we  shall  face 
a  different  Asiatic  world  than  that  of 
three  years  ago.  Asia  is  moving  more 
rapidly  now,  and  has  made  more  progress 
towards  internationalism  since  the  war 
began,  than  in  the  preceding  ten  cen¬ 
turies.  Japan  has  come  into  the  compete 
sisterhood  of  nations,  and  as  such  is 
bearing  her  share  of  the  war’s  burden. 
She  is  the  best  supporter  of  law  and 
order  and  of  friendly  international  rela¬ 
tions  among  all  of  the  Asiatic  peop^s. 
Tens  of  thousands  of  Chinese  are  already 
in  France  and  have  been  for  months, 
while  many  more  are  upon  the  way  to 
assist  in  the  struggle  for  democracy  and 
the  rights  of  the  smaller  nations  against 
self-centered  absolutism.  The  great  old 
empire  of  China,  by  revolution  and 
counter-revolution  and  by  active  partici¬ 
pation  in  the  greatest  war  of  history,  is 
rapidly  finding  herself  and  becoming 
conscious  of  her  man  power  and  of  her 
undeveloped  resources.  India  is  also  ex¬ 
periencing  fundamental  changes  in  her 
point  of  view  and  her  sense  of  native 


power.  After  marching  and  fighting  and 
dying  side  by  side  and  upon  equal  terms 
with  those  who  for  a  century  have  been 
recognized  as  her  masters,  and  all  for  the 
preservation  of  liberty  for  India  as  well 
as  for  the  world,  the  great  Indian  popu¬ 
lations  will  be  eager  for  and  ready  to 
appreciate  a  larger  degree  of  self-govern¬ 
ment.  This  has  been  promised  them  by 
England.  The  missionary  forces  in  India 
will,  in  the  future,  deal  more  directly 
than  hitherto  with  the  Indian  himself, 
and  must  needs  take  more  into  consider¬ 
ation  his  religious  prejudices  and  tradi¬ 
tions.  One  of  the  first  practical  questions 
to  arise  out  of  these  new  conditions  is 
that  of  the  insertion  of  the  “conscience 
clause”  in  the  educational  laws  of  India. 
This  law,  if  passed,  will  make  the  teach¬ 
ing  of  any  religion  in  schools,  aided  by 
government  grants,  impossible,  except 
as  the  parents  of  the  pupils  may  elect. 
As  most  mission  schools  in  India  are  now 
receiving  large  annual  governmentgrants, 
the  question  is  a  very  practical  one  to 
Mission  Boards. 

Multitudes  of  Asiatics  who  have,  for 
the  first  time,  become  widely  separated 
from  their  homes  and  country  and  had 
protracted  experiences  in  other  lands, 
have  observed  that  their  ancestral  civi¬ 
lization  is  not  suited  to  a  world  citizen¬ 
ship,  and  that  their  religion  falls  far 
short  of  meeting  the  requirements  of  the 
new  world  relations. 

We  welcome,  therefore,  this  awakening 
of  the  East.  It  forecasts  a  wholesome 
and  beneficent  intellectual,  moral,  and 
religious  as  well  as  political  evolution. 
The  Christian  Church  would  not  have 
Eastern  peoples  held  in  ignorance  and 
seclusion  in  order  that  they  might  re¬ 
main  subservient.  Any  awakening  of  the 
mind  and  spirit  betokens  life  and  power. 
Such  a  movement  never  fails  to  open 
new  doors  of  approach,  to  offer  new  fields 
for  action,  and  to  insure  a  vastly  larger 
measure  of  intelligent  native  leadership. 
This  mighty  movement  throughout  Asia, 
which  already  is  becoming  manifest,  but 
which  later  wfill  constitute  little  less  than 
a  revolution,  demands  of  the  Church  new 
and  unprecedented  contributions  of  men 


SURVEY  OF  THE  FIELDS 


11 


and  money  to  convert  what  might  be  a 
menace  into  a  Christian  triumph. 

CONCLUSION 

We  venture  the  statement  that  in  no 
year  have  the  missionaries  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Board  been  called  upon  to  meet 
more  unprecedented  situations  than  dur¬ 
ing  the  year  under  review. 

The  significance  of  it  all  does  not  lie 
so  much  in  the  war  conditions  as  in  those 
other  deeper  and  more  fundamental 
movements  that,  if  properly  directed,  will 
mean  so  much  for  the  future. 

Twelve  hundred  millions  of  the  popu¬ 
lation  of  this  war-swept  earth  are  fighting 
to  make  the  world  safe  for  democracy. 
When  the  shouting  and  fighting  cease, 
then  the  Christian  Church  must  enter 
upon  the  larger  and  more  significant  task, 
to  make  democracy  safe  for  the  world. 
The  spirit  of  democracy  is  dominating 
the  thinking  of  the  peoples  of  Japan, 
China,  India,  Africa,  Turkey,  and,  in 
fact,  of  every  nation  and  race  on  earth. 
There  is  nothing  that  can  check  the 
spread  of  the  idea  that  the  power  of 
the  ruler  must  be  obtained  from  the  will 
of  the  governed.  We  are  witnessing  today 
the  rapid  rise  of  the  supremacy  of  the 
will  of  the  common  people  in  the  control 
of  the  affairs  of  society  and  of  state.  A 
democracy  that  is  animated  by  unworthy 
ambitions,  jealousy,  greed,  unholy  pas¬ 
sion,  and  the  spirit  of  inhumanity,  will 
be  as  great  if  not  a  greater  menace  to  the 
world  than  the  most  absolute  autocracy. 

No  democracy  can  be  worthy  a  perma¬ 
nent  place  in  the  sisterhood  of  democ¬ 
racies  that  does  not  base  the  principle 
and  motives  underlying  its  national  life 
upon  the  teachings  of  Jesus  Christ  as  set 
forth  in  his  Gospels.  Education  alone 
can  never  make  democracy  safe,  nor  can 
science,  art,  or  commerce.  These  without 
philanthropy,  the  spirit  of  service,  and  a 
passion  for  righteousness  may  constitute 
a  menace,  black  with  peril. 

We  in  the  work  of  foreign  missions 
are  planting  in  the  heart  of  the  nations, 
moving  rapidly  towards  a  democratic 
goal,  that  which  alone  can  make  a  nation 
true  and  strong  and  great,  and  that  will 


guarantee  to  the  world  a  day  of  universal 
peace  and  good  will. 

Foreign  mission  administrators  and 
supporters  have  not  yet  got  the  vision  of 
the  length  and  breadth,  the  height  and 
depth,  of  the  work  in  which  we  are  en¬ 
gaged.  We  have  looked  upon  foreign 
missions  as  a  cause  to  be  supported  by 
the  fragment  that  remained,  and  not  as 
the  real  business  of  the  followers  of  the 
Church.  We  have  contributed  to  this 
cause  something  of  our  surplus,  but  few 
indeed  have  felt  the  importance  of  the 
work  sufficiently  to  draw  upon  their 
capital.  We  are  today  confronting  a  situ¬ 
ation  which  demands  not  only  the  un¬ 
reserved  devotion  of  life  far  in  excess 
of  anything  before  witnessed  in  the  cause 
of  missions,  but  the  consecration  of  money 
far  beyond  an3rthing  hitherto  estimated. 

At  this  time  it  is  not  a  question  as  to 
whether  the  great  East  shall  advance  into 
a  new  life,  but  it  is  a  question  as  to  the 
direction  in  which  that  advance  shall  be 
made.  The  Church  itself,  and  the  mis¬ 
sionary  societies  which  represent  the 
Church,  must  bear  the  responsibility  for 
shaping  the  moral,  social,  national,  and 
religious  trend  of  the  great  Asiatic 
and  African  world.  We  of  the  Board 
rejoice  in  what  has  been  accomplished 
in  the  line  of  contributions  during  the 
last  year,  and  well  we  may.  And  yet,  this 
does  not  meet  by  at  least  100  per  cent  the 
demands  which  will  come  upon  the  Board 
and  are  already  coming.  Not  only  na¬ 
tional  crises  are  facing  the  world,  but 
religious  crises,  and  the  American  Board's 
share  in  this  responsibility  calls  for  at 
least  a  million  dollars  a  year  advance, 
for  several  years  to  come,  over  present 
receipts.  The  Methodist  body  is  calling 
for  eight  million  dollars  a  year  for  the 
next  five  years.  Surely,  for  the  great 
Congregational  Church,  an  additional 
million  dollars  a  year  purely  for  foreign 
missions,  to  put  these  great  religious, 
educational,  and  humanitarian  institu¬ 
tions  well  upon  their  feet  and  equip  them 
for  the  task  that  they  cannot  avoid,  is 
not  too  large  a  sum.  If  our  constituency 
could  see  the  vision  and  reaTze  the  opoor- 
tunity  that  is  now  knocking  at  the  door 


12 


SURVEY  OF  THE  FIELDS 


of  the  American  Board,  and,  through  the 
American  Board,  of  the  Congregational 
Churches  of  America,  the  necessary  re¬ 
enforcement  and  support  would  surely 
come.  It  was  for  a  day  and  opportunity 
like  this  that  the  American  Board  was 
organized,  and  has  been  permitted  to 
establish  its  great  missions  and  to  lay 
the  foundation  for  mighty  world-shaping 
institutions. 

WHO  DIED  IN  THE  LORD 

Miss  Mabel  L.  Chase,  at  Madura,  No¬ 
vember  20,  1916,  after  less  than  a  year 
on  the  field. 

Miss  Mary  C.  Fowle,  at  Sivas,  Novem¬ 
ber  22,  1916,  of  typhus,  after  ten  years, 
one  year  of  which  was  given  to  Bardizag. 

Miss  Abbie  M.  Colby,  at  Osaka,  Japan, 
January  5,  1917,  all  her  missionary  life, 
thirty-seven  years,  having  been  given  to 
Osaka. 

Rev.  Robert  Chambers,  d.d.,  at  New¬ 
ton,  Mass.,  April  2,  1917,  a  veteran  of 
thirty-five  years’  service,  nine  in  Erz- 
room  and  twenty-four  in  Bardizag. 

Mr.  James  Hunter,  in  Angola,  West 
Central  Africa,  April  26, 1917.  He  was  a 
printer  at  Kamundongo  for  less  than  two 
years. 

Mrs.  Emma  B.  Riggs,  at  Harpoot, 
April  27,  1917,  after  twenty-eight  years 
of  continuous  service  in  Harpoot,  with 
only  one  furlough  in  America. 

Mrs.  Edith  L.  Gifford,  at  Mt.  Silinda, 
Southern  Rhodesia,  May  3,  1917,  having 
served  as  a  nurse  in  Rhodesia  and  Natal 
for  five  years. 

Mrs.  Mabel  W.  Stokey,  at  Chicopee 
Falls,  Mass.,  May  6,  1917,  after  only 


three  years  as  a  missionary  in  Angola, 
West  Central  Africa. 

Rev.  Charles  H.  Maxwell,  at  Durban, 
Natal,  August  23,  1917,  after  eleven  years 
in  South  Africa — eight  in  Natal  and 
three  in  Beira,  East  Africa. 

Those  who  had  'previously  retired 
from  the  field 

Dr.  David  IJ.  Nutting,  at  Randolph 
Center,  Vt.,  October  5,  1916;  for  twenty- 
two  years  a  medical  missionary  in  Tur¬ 
key,  at  Diarbekir,  Oorfa,  Aintab,  and 
Aleppo. 

Rev.  Joseph  K.  Greene,  d.d.,  at  Ober- 
lin,  O.,  February  10,  1917 ;  missionary  in 
Turkey  from  1859  to  1910,  three  years 
at  Nicomedia,  six  at  Brousa,  and  the  re¬ 
mainder  in  Constantinople. 

Rev.  Charles  C.  Tracy,  d.d.,  at  Los 
Angeles,  Cal.,  April  20,  1917;  with  the 
exception  of  two  years,  1871  to  1873, 
Dr.  Tracy  was  a  member  of  the  Marsovan 
station,  beginning  his  service  in  the  fall 
of  1867  and  continuing  until  his  return 
to  America  in  the  fall  of  1913. 

Rev.  James  L.  Fowle,  at  Newton, 
Mass.,  May  16,  1917 ;  for  thirty-three 
years,  from  1878  to  1911,  he  was  located 
at  Cesarea,  Turkey. 

Miss  Ida  -Creesey  Foss,  at  Melrose, 
Mass.,  May  25,  1917 ;  formerly  connected 
with  the  Micronesian  Mission,  chiefly  in 
the  Caroline  Islands,  from  1890  to  1906. 

Rev.  Charles  R.  Hagar,  m.d.,  at  Clare¬ 
mont,  Cal.,  July  13,  1917 ;  from  1883  till 
ill  health  compelled  him  to  withdraw  in 
1910,  Dr.  Hagar  was  a  devoted  mission¬ 
ary  to  South  China,  serving  in  Hong¬ 
kong,  Canton,  and  the  outlying  districts. 


SURVEY  OF  THE  FIELDS 


13 


STATISTICAL  TABLE 

Owing  to  the  impossibility  of  securing  returns  from  some  of  our  largest  fields, 
these  tabulated  statements  of  numbers  have  less  real  value  than  usual:  — 

GENERAL  SUMMARY,  1916-1917 
Missions 

Number  of  Missions .  19 

Number  of  Stations .  103 

Number  of  Outstations . 1,476 

Places  for  stated  preaching . 1,960 

Laborers  Employed 

Number  of  ordained  Missionaries  (6  being  Physicians) .  176 

Number  of  Male  Physicians  not  ordained  (besides  17  women)  ...  24 

Number  of  other  Male  Assistants .  34 

Number  of  Women  (17  of  them  Physicians)  (wives  222,  unmarried  223)  .  445 

Whole  number  of  Laborers  sent  from  this  country .  679 

Number  of  Native  Pastors .  336 

Number  of  Native  Preachers  and  Catechists .  726 

Number  of  other  Native  Laborers . 4,196 

Total  of  Native  Laborers . 5,505 

Total  of  American  and  Native  Laborers . 6,184 

The  Churches 

Number  of  Churches .  724 

Number  of  Church  Members .  86,970 

Added  during  the  year  .  . 6,211 

Number  of  Sunday  Schools . 1,463 

Sunday  School  membership .  94,269 

Educational  Department 

Number  of  Theological  Seminaries  and  Training  Classes  ..'...  21 

Students  for  the  Ministry .  554 

Students  in  Collegiate  Training . 3,323 

Secondary,  or  Middle  Schools .  139 

Number  of  Pupils  in  these  Schools . 12,605 

Number  of  Elementary  and  other  Schools . 1,4S5 

Number  of  Pupils  in  these  Schools .  68,635 

Whole  number  under  instruction .  89,077 

Native  Contributions,  so  far  as  reported . $376,808 


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